Enciclopedia Cattolica Vol. XI, 1953 Popes & papal documents Popes

Telesphorus, Pope, Saint, Martyr

TELESFORO, PAPA, SANTO, MARTIRE

Feast day: 5 January

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Also known as: Greek: Telesphoros; French: Télesphore

TELESPHORUS, Pope, Saint, Martyr. - St. Irenaeus places him seventh after the Apostles and says that he ended his days with a "glorious martyrdom" (Ad. Haer., III, 3, 3; Eusebius, Hist. eccl., IV, 10; V, 6, 4).

His pontificate lasted 11 years (Lib. Pont., p. LXXX) and is placed approximately between 125 and 136. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, 5, 5 and loc. cit.) and the Liberian Catalogue (ed. Duchesne, in Lib. Pont., I, pp. 2-3) assign him, with some uncertainty, the years 127-38. The Liber Pont. says he was of Greek origin and attributes to him, without any foundation, the institution of the seven-week Lenten fast and of the night Masses of Christmas with the singing of the Gloria (the 2nd ed. speaks instead of the Gloria in the daily Mass to be celebrated after terce). The same source says he was buried in the Vatican on 2 January. The Hieronymian Martyrology does not commemorate him, but Florus in his Martyrology (9th century) transformed an African martyr named T., listed in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 5 January, into St. T. pope, and this identification is still preserved in the Roman Martyrology. In the Missal the commemoration of St. T. (5 January) appears for the first time in the typical edition of 1604.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: Lib. Pont., I, pp. II, XC, 56 (compendia of Felicianus and Canonianus), 129; Martyr. Hieronymianum, pp. 26-27; Martyr. Romanum, p. 7; H. Quentin, Les martyr. hist. du moyen âge, Paris 1908, p. 293; L. Duchesne, Hist. ancien. de l'Egl., I, 3rd ed., ibid. 1923, pp. 236-37; Fliche-Martin-Frutz, I, 2nd ed., nos. 253, 337, 409; P. Bruylants, Les oraisons du missel romain, I, Louvain 1952, p. 12.

A. Pietro Frutz

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By Amato Pietro Frutaz

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Translated from the Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI (1953), coll. 1872–1873.

More by Amato Pietro Frutaz: Tebei, Saints, Martyrs · Theoderic (Teoderico), Antipope · Theodore · Theodosius the Cenobiarch, Saint · Theophilact (Theofilacias, Theophilactus)

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Chicago

Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Telesforo, papa, santo, martire.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI, coll. 1872–1873. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953. https://azioneromana.com/article/telesforo-papa-santo-martire.

MLA

Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Telesforo, papa, santo, martire.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953, coll. 1872–1873. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/telesforo-papa-santo-martire.

BibTeX

@incollection{ec11_telesforo_papa_santo_martire,
  author    = {Frutaz, Amato Pietro},
  title     = {Telesforo, papa, santo, martire},
  booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
  volume    = {XI},
  pages     = {1872--1873},
  note      = {Cited by column},
  publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
  address   = {Città del Vaticano},
  year      = {1953},
  url       = {https://azioneromana.com/article/telesforo-papa-santo-martire}
}

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